Conceptualizing Environmental Literacy and Waste Disposal Behaviour of University Students in Nigeria. An Empirical Investigation

Abstract

This study was on conceptualizing environmental literacy and waste disposal behaviour of university students in Nigeria. Environmental problems today are global in nature, requiring young and old alike to behave pro-environmentally in order to rectify environmental problems and prevent new ones from occurring. Environmentally literate people possess the knowledge and skills required to analyze environmental issues, which would enable the individual to behave pro-environmentally. The main objective of this study was to investigate environmental literacy and waste disposal behaviour of university students in Nigeria. To achieve this, the study hypothesized that despite the intensifying environmental education efforts and the spread of environmental literacy concept, there is still a growly discourse in literature on whether and how environmental literacy influence waste disposal behaviour of university students in Nigeria. Data were collected using structured questionnaire administered to four hundred students selected from universities in Enugu State, Nigeria. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses at .05 margin of error. Statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 23.0 software was used for analysis, the findings shows that there was no relationship (positive) between environmental knowledge and waste disposal behaviour of university students. The paper concludes that students who are environmentally knowledgeable, curious, with locus of control concerned and sensitive to the environment are needed to manage the impact of human excesses on the environment. It is recommended that environmental programmes should be infused into the academic curriculum for university students to enable them acquire more environmental knowledge to walk the talk.